Our Story

Rising Tide was formed in the Netherlands in 2000 by environmental and social justice activists attending the UN Conference of the Parties climate talks. Rising Tide now spans four continents, with activists in North and South America, the UK, Ecuador, and Australia.

Rising Tide’s North American network was founded in the spring of 2006. Many of Rising Tide’s original members met during the original Mountain Justice Summer, inspired by the movement’s lack of distinction between human rights and environmental concerns, as well as at Earth First! gatherings.

From the beginning Rising Tide has worked to create a network that prioritizes local grassroots organizing yet remains firmly engaged in international social movements; which promotes solidarity and collaboration with impacted communities and local social justice struggles; which challenges corporate-friendly “solutions” to climate change; and which organizes with a horizontal, anti-oppressive framework that promotes social justice as inextricably linked to biocentrism and environmentalism.

Rising Tide North America now has local contacts in more than 50 cities through Mexico, the United States, and Canada.